1. Technical Field
The invention relates to gutters for collecting water, and specifically to hinged rain gutter assemblies
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to protect the side of a building and other objects from water damage caused by rain water falling from the roof of the building, rain gutter assemblies are typically provided to collect the falling water and to channel the collected water to a downspout. Typically, rain gutter assemblies include abutting troughs which are supported by the wall of the building adjacent the roof.
It is generally known to construct rain gutters by extruding plastic, for example polyvinyl chloride, to form the trough of a rain gutter. As a material for rain gutters, plastic provides several advantages. Plastic rain gutters are characteristically durable and relatively lightweight, which makes plastic rain gutters easier to handle and install than rain gutters made of galvanized steel or copper, for example. The use of plastic as a material for rain gutters also introduces several considerations which must be addressed for a successful rain gutter design. Because plastic can have a relatively high coefficient of expansion, and because rain gutter assemblies are typically subject to variable temperature environments, plastic rain gutters are generally not dimensionally stable. The expansion and contraction of plastic rain gutters caused by varying temperatures must be considered in the support of the rain gutter assembly on the side of a building and in the connection of abutting sections of rain gutters.